Safety means for ladders



April 9, 1940. ME|ER 2,196,640

SAFETY MEANS FOR LADDERS Filed March 30, 1939 Inventor PETER ME/ ER A iiomeys Patented Apr. 9, 1940 NITED I STATES SAFETY MEANS FOR LADDERS Peter Meier, Woodward, Iowa Application March 30,1939, Serial No. 265,044

I 1 Claim.

I The present invention appertains to new and useful improvements in ladders and more particularly to anti-slipping means therefor.

. 1 The principal object of the present invention is to provide safety means for ladders constructed andarranged in such a manner as to prevent slippage of a ladder when it is set up for use.

, Another important object of the invention is to provide safety means for ladders which can be adjusted to the desired extent to accommodate a ladder regardless of the angle at which the same is to be used.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to the reader of the following specification. I

In the drawing: a

Figure l'represents a fragmentary perspective view showing the safety means associated with the lowerportion of a ladder.

vFigure 2 is a fragmentary front elevational View of the lower portion of a ladder with the safety means attached.

- Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals designate like parts it can be seen that numerals '5 denote the parallel runners of the ladder which are connected by the rungs 6; Ar-. cuate shaped shoes l'! are employed in carrying out the present invention, one being located at the lower end of ,each of the runners 5. These 30 shoes l eachconsists of an arcuate plate having an upstanding intermediate portion 8 extendin into a reduced portion 9. e In this raised portion 8' is thearcuate slot lU through "which a bolt H extends This bolt ll extends through an opening l2 in the lower portion of the corresponding runner 5, the head portion [3 of the bolt being at the inside of the runne nwhile the winged nut I4- is feedable inwardly on the outer end of the bolt and against the footportion 8 to clamp the por 40 tion 8 against the lower portion of the runner with the runner in the desired angular relation with respect to the corresponding foot plate I.

These runners 55 have openings l5 in their lower end portions throughwhich the rod l6 extends,this rod also extending through the inter- I mediate portions of the foot plate I and having a head I! at each end thereof beyond the said shoe plate 1. Thus the ladder is rockably supported on the rod; l6 and the bolts I land nuts I4 serve to. hold the shoes in the desired position with respect to the runnersof the ladder, and taking into consideration the inclination of the ladder, so that the corner portions I8 of the shoe plates 1 can bite into the ground to prevent any possibility of the ladder slipping.

While the foregoingspecification sets forth the invention in specific terms, it is to be understood that numerous changes in the shape, size and materials may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimedhereinafter.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new'is:

In a ladder structure including substantially parallel runnersja pair of arcuate-shaped antislipping shoes for'the'lower ends of the runners, the end. portions of the shoes being cutoff to define corners adapted to bite into the ground when theladder is being used, each of these said shoes being provided with an enlarged intermediate portion, a' rod disposed through the central, portions of the enlarged portions of the shoes and the lower end portions of the runners for pivotally securing the shoes to the runners, each of the said enlarged portions of the shoes being 'provided with a short extension, each ofthe extensions having anarcuate slot therein, and bolt and nut means disposed through the slot of each extension and through the corresponding ladder runner. 1

PETER MEIER. 

